Stinkbugs Invasion!

[juicerkatz]

Well, I am not sure if this qualifies as a full-blown disaster, but it is a real bothersome nuisance! We have been invaded with the horrid little creatures for the past couple years here in PA and neighboring states, and there is no end in sight.

Even pesticides are of little use in combating them. They are starting to make a mess of some of the crops, fruits mainly.

http://www.wgal.com/news/24923536/detail.html

Any one else dealing with these abominations?!?!? Ideas - suggestions... What have you used in combating/dealing with them?

[Dogmeat]

After a couple years of the invasion, I found that using Ortho Home Defense helps a little. Actually, I think they just come inside and die on the floor instead of crawling on the walls. Lasts about a week. Only solution is to seal up all entries into the house. Crap! One just buzzed me as I wrote this... I saw some daylight coming thru a few seals on my doors, so I'm going to add more weatherstripping tomorrow and try to tighten up my doors a bit. Forget about trying to seal the outside of the house, they have too many places they can crawl into. My plan is to keep them out of the living spaces.

[lonesurvivor]

I live up in the Lehigh Valley and these buggers are everywhere. I absolutely hate them, if you kill them they make your clothes and hands stink.

What I have found is they are attracted to light. I remember being in my office late at night and working and I heard something fly by and smack my head. Come to find out it was one of THEM!

I did find this to help you out...

http://www.asktheexterminator.com/Ho...ink_Bugs.shtml

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/un...of-stink-bugs/

[Moccasin]

We had something like that around here a while back. Camphor beetles, grass bugs, whatever you called them they were all over. They got in houses, they hung by the dozens on screen doors, they flew through the air and got in your hair, and if you crushed or disturbed them they'd emit a disgusting smell... It was an infestation that went on for several years. And now, they're almost all gone. You find one occasionally, but that's it. They exhausted their food supplies, predators increased in number to eat them, weather conditions weren't right and they and their progeny didn't survive the winter in large numbers... So just hang on (since there's not much else you can do), and in time they'll probably go away. In the meantime, if there are enough of them, their dead bodies should make good fertilizer!

[Homefire]

I honestly had no idea there was a large issue with them beyond my gardens, and around our area. My last part of my tomato crop and pepper crop was destroyed by these guys. they are currently all over my Cherry Pepper Plant, not really hurting anything on that one though. Thanks for the links and info.

and hell does that smell they secrete stink.

[OKGlocker]

I had a major issue with stink bugs this year in my garden... before I knew it, they had totally destroyed a number of my squash plants, sucking the juice out of the plants, during the hottest months this summer...

The solution?

Diatomaceous Earth... Food grade... NOT the kind they put in pool filters... Dusted the squash plants and the ground all around the plants... The stink bugs and squash bugs ran like their little feet were on fire (which they were)... the DE looks like talcum powder, but under a microscope it looks like tiny little razor blades...

Totally organic solution... totally safe for you and your pets (unless you have bugs for pets LOL)...

I use DE for many things, including dusting little cracks and crevices around the house to get rid of crawling bugs, dusting my dogs with it to get rid of fleas and ticks... Giving it to them in their food to get rid of worms, etc...

Karl

[Dougzilla]

I get them here at this time of year when the temps drop and they all try to seek heat. Just thing morning i opened a window and one got onto my neck. Of course he spewed on me when i tried to brush him off....now thats all i smell.

These little guys can find any little crack and find their way into your house.

[Volk]

We have been invaded too. I grab 10 to 15 a day in my house ( grab cause if you kill them they stink) and i live in Bulgaria.

[juicerkatz]

I will have to look into Diatomaceous Earth - I heard that one before. Although, they come in some of the open areas in the roof of the house & stick to the ceiling, so that would be kinda difficult to use it there...

[bcvojak]

Originally Posted by juicerkatz

Well, I am not sure if this qualifies as a full-blown disaster, but it is a real bothersome nuisance! We have been invaded with the horrid little creatures for the past couple years here in PA and neighboring states, and there is no end in sight.

Isn't there a separate sub-forum for politics?

[crazylady]

Here in FL we deal with out fair shair of Stinkbugs. Now this suggestion, that seemed to work for me, was on a very small back yard kind of scale. The stink bugs stink when they are threatened and in danger. I would go check my sunflowers daily and when I found a stink bug I would basically harass it but placing a plastic cup over it and scooting it around on the ground. The bug couldn't get out and feeling trapped it would start to stink. I would kill the bug which would make even mre stink. I left the bug carcass on the ground among my sunflowers and left the cup right side up so the stink bug aroma could be smelled. This smell served as a warning to all other such bugs that there was danger here. It would be days before I would have to do it all over again. A very organic solution for a small scale gardener.

[iNGEN]

DE will help, but the best defense against stink bugs in bait crop. Interplant your garden with plants that are more attractive to the stink bugs than your main crops. Additionally, planting two or three weeks late will interrupt the bugs life cycle, but that tactic is only useful on recurrent infestations.

[Proyas]

They've been getting into my house the past two weeks or so. I don't mind and haven't been trying to kill them. What's the point? They can't sting you and don't carry diseases. Just leave them alone and they will die eventually on their own.

[LeftCoast Grower]

I've found the easiest way to eliminate these pests is to use an outdoor bug zapper. These pests are attracted to the ultraviolet light emitted from the zapper, and just can't help themselves. You can find a decent one for about $40.00.

You would only need to run it during pre-mating period, and again near the end of grow season to capture any stragglers before they over winter. Till any affected areas TWICE (one month apart) before allowing growspace to "sleep" till spring. This will disrupt any bugs who made a home in your garden and had plans to stay till spring.

The light zapper method gets rid of the bugs while leaving your garden and soil untouched.

[rncmomx2]

DE for all pests here....give it to the goats, chickens, rabbits, dogs, cats ourselves....as stated before make sure it is ORGANIC FOOD GRADE and not pool grade/filter grade.

[iNGEN]

Originally Posted by LeftCoast Grower

Till any affected areas TWICE (one month apart) before allowing growspace to "sleep" till spring. This will disrupt any bugs who made a home in your garden and had plans to stay till spring.

Ditto on the double tillage. Make sure at least the first till is done before the birds fly south for the winter. They will eat as many as the winter will kill. This method does the same as my suggestion about late plantings. It disrupts the reproductive cycle of the pest. Which is often more effective than poison, yet has none of the ugly side effects.

[survivor11]

I found this thread through google, I HATE stink bugs. They are evil. I have tried everything, stongly considering moving to another state! lol.

Has anyone tried http://www.getridofstinkbugsnow.com/ ?, it seems to be the first option in google for stink bugs.

John.

[bulrush]

We don't seem to have any stinkbugs here in west Michigan right now. Never saw one before. But we have lots of elder beetles. (They like maple trees.)

[grandpamonkeytoes]

Don't they make some kind of sauce out of them in Mexico?

[KDOG]

I just got back from my camping trip in Gettysburg PA. These things were EVERYWHERE. We have a new camper with then ends and they were constantly trying to get it the seams and what not. Ugh.